Paratroopers Museum

PARATROOPERS MUSEUM The paratrooper unit from Buzău (the Battalion, later the „Băneasa-Otopeni” 60th Paratrooper Regiment) was the only paratrooper unit in the Romanian army until 1980, when three other such units were established. The unit from Buzău Crâng, however, remained a reference for military parachuting in Romania. On 1st July 1986, the first educational structure of the paratrooper troops was established within it, which later became the Application School for Paratroopers, standard bearer of this elite weapon which also assumed the role of bearer and continuer of the traditions of battle of the weapon. On 1st July 2001, the Paratroopers Museum was inaugurated, and over 5 years later, on 1st July 2006, a second room was inaugurated, dedicated especially to the display of combat techniques. The surface of the museum was then significantly increased by arranging the hall of the building as an exhibition space. The museum is primarily dedicated to the great anonymous – the paratrooper fighter – the one who, leaving his blood on the battlefield, sweating at training, parachuting, between heaven and earth, always only did his duty, without ever pretending that he makes history. In the summer of 2005, following the restructuring of some research units from Buzău garrison, their historical heritage was also housed in the Paratroopers Museum. Thus, the combat traditions of the scouts and military intelligence structures stand alongside those of the paratrooper units, together with which they made history in the Romanian army. The structures of special forces were recently added to them, which trained alongside paratroopers and scouts in Buzău. The disbanding of some paratrooper units in the country, as part of the extensive process of transformation of the Romanian army, caused a part of their historical heritage to be sent to the Buzau Paratroopers Museum, which since January 2008 has been operating as a branch of „Ferdinand I” National Military Museum of Bucharest. In the exhibition space of the museum, original uniforms and items of equipment of the military paratroopers, dating back to 1941, the year of the establishment of military parachuting in Romania, authentic photographs and documents, parachuting technique and equipment, some of which even prototypes, an impressive collection of heraldic insignia, transmission equipment, artillery, genius, NBC, etc. A special place was reserved for keeping the memory of those who fell in battle in August 1944 and in December 1989, as well as those who broke their wings during parachuting training.